Beginning to See the Light: Pieces of a Decade

by Ellen Willis

Well written collection of essays by the feminist scholar Ellen Willis (1941-2006) These pieces includes libertarian, feminist and other critical thinking points of views and opinions on rock music, love, politics, popular culture and sociology. They makes an entertaining read and are good remainders of the polemical left-wing feminism from the late 1960's and 1970's. Willis was the first popular Rock & Roll music critic for The New Yorker, between 1968 and 1975. She was a highly respected journalist whose writings were published in diverse publications such as Rolling Stone, Rampart, The Nation, The New York Times and The Village Voice.

Genres: Music, Essays, Nonfiction, Feminism, Politics

320 pages, Hardcover

First published January 1, 1981

About the author

Ellen Jane Willis was an American left-wing political essayist, journalist, and pop music critic.

Reviews

[James · Rating 4 out of 5]

I read this book after the review of her newest book in the New York Times book review. I went to look for other titles when the new one wasn't available and found this fine book. This is a collection of her work from 1967 to 1979 and I really liked it. So much of what is written about the sixties just doesn't ring true, but Ellen was a careful observer and participant in the era. She writes well about diverse subjects which include Bob Dylan, the Who, Janis Joplin, feminism, the sixties radical movement and much more. One thing I liked was the she didn't apologize for the period and imply that it was just this crazy time of excess. The culture clash between the left and right was well underway during this 13 year period and Ellen writes powerfully about the "right to life" crowd and their hypocrisy when it came to most aspects of life that take place after birth. She was an ardent feminist and proud of it, but could see that the forces were lining up to do things like oppose the Equal Rights Amendment (which never did pass). She had a fine sense of the political winds and saw that so many would disavow everything she and others had believed in during that period in the sixties and early seventies when massive cultural change seemed likely. And by 1979, much of the change had gone mainstream, but the backlash was underway and Ellen writes about the coming of movements like neoconservatism with prescient clarity.

The book concludes with a poignant chapter about several months spent in Jerusalem. I visited Jerusalem myself several years ago and found even a one day visit was a profound experience. Ellen's brother had gone to Jerusalem and found safe harbor in the study and practice of traditional Judaism. Ellen was Jewish, but came from the secular, intellectual perspective. She loves her brother and dives into the studies of the Torah herself during her stay in Jerusalem. She writes vividly about her wish to sometimes just accept all of the teachings, but the philosophies clash profoundly with the life she has led and Ellen gives us a window into the soul searching she experienced as she wrestles to find what works for her.

In summary, this is an excellent book that offers a clear-eyed view of the sixties and seventies. In her writing, we can see themes that will show up time and time again in the years ahead. I definitely want to read more of her writing and wish she was still here with us to study and share insights about the challenges we face today, many of which she foreshadowed in this book.

[Blaine · Rating 4 out of 5]

This was the best book of essays I've read in a very long time. On their own, each of the essays on Bob Dylan, Janis Joplin, Woodstock, the demonstrations at the 1968 Democratic convention (with strong resonance to politics today), abortion, the position of Jews in the USA, and the final essay, "Next Year in Jerusalem", deserve 5 stars, and if the others were not quite at that level, most were very, very good. She is an analytical thinker, a clear writer, even if takes some effort to fully understand her, and is unfailingly honest about the complexities of her positions. After all life is complicated.

Finally, it was a pleasure to relive the 60's and some of the 70's with her. Even without allowing for the fact that most of these essays were written at little temporal remove from the era, her perspective on it is more penetrating than much of what I read today with the benefit of 40-50 years hindsight.

[Leah Levinson]

a friend gifted this to me off her own shelf, unread. was interested in writings of an early feminist rock critic on music, feminism, leftist politics, and judaism. reading it started to feel like an exercise in reading across time and difference, with Willis offering immediate, journalistic commentary on then-current events of issues still relevant today (abortion, sex, assault, zionism, anti-semitism). her writing has a nice sense of momentum and self-certainty that I felt I could learn from, even when her stance was different from my own and felt unconvincing. highlights were her early essay on bob dylan, her essay on ‘deep throat’ (which oddly anticipates barbara hammer’s ‘dyketactics’ that would be released just a year later), her writing on a sexual assault trial in “the trial of arlene hunt,” and the final piece—a particularly effective personal essay exploring a secular struggle towards/against faith and religious life.

[Daniel Oropeza · Rating 5 out of 5]

Otro testimonio (como diría un cristiano) de que un libro bien escrito puede ser un mazazo. Cuánta claridad la de la autora que disecciona sutilmente a su sociedad y a su tiempo.
Mis favoritos son el texto sobre Dylan (lo destruye y luego lo rearma[y seguro lo hubiera vuelto a destruir si hubiese sido escrito en los 80’s]), el de The Velvet Underground (se fue a meter en esa alcantarilla [mental] para enseñarnos en ese fondo la luz, el que trata del aborto (importante perspectiva de una feminista que estuvo ahí para ver los avances de los 60’s recular) y el final sobre mmm un acercamiento a lo místico/religioso con perspectiva secular y las carencias/posibilidades en ambas esquinas.

[Jordon Gyarmathy · Rating 4 out of 5]

I was recommended to read Next Year in Jerusalem by a Rabbi that I studied with. I decided to get a collection of Willis' works instead of just reading a single piece. I found that the combination of music review, social commentary, feminist writing, and Jewish themes fit really well with my interests. It was also neat to read first hand accounts of the pulse at the time that these articles and pieces were written. Looking back on something gives you a lot more perspective but the first hand raw experience is interesting to access in it's own way. Great read.

[David Allen · Rating 4 out of 5]

These essays on rock music, current events, women's rights and Jewishness are dated at times, as the most recent one is from 1979, but many are still relevant, sometimes depressingly so. Her prose is dense but clearly reasoned and stated; she argues her positions well. It left me wanting to read more. Best essay title: "Abortion: Is a Woman a Person?," wherein she tackles various anti-abortion arguments and (in my view) demolishes them. See above about her continuing relevance.

[Lindy · Rating 4 out of 5]

This collection is far more coherent than it might appear at first glance: within the overlapping spheres of rock music, activism/politics, and religion, Ellen Willis puts forward belief in the validity of the utopian impulse and then ruthlessly examines the impulse itself. These elements culminate in the final essay, "Next Year in Jerusalem," which is well worth the buildup.

[Linda Edwards · Rating 4 out of 5]

Esp interesting were her pieces on Elvis (his more mature singing in Las Vegas), Dylan (w/a few notes on others), Janis Joplin, Woodstock (how the idea of a communal festival got subverted), pornography, rape trials (how the victim was put on trial more than the rapist then) and access to abortion & contraception. Ms Willis offers much well thought out insights.

[Dylan · Rating 4 out of 5]

"I imagine that in utopia, porn would wither away along with the state, heroin, and Coca-Cola."

[Ben · Rating 5 out of 5]

Ellen Willis is one of my favorite culture/music critics. This collection has some terrific essays on the Velvets, Dylan, films, and other elements of culture. The essay on pornography and the trial of Arline Hunt are two of my favorite socio-political essays contained therein.